Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Grandma's Oatmeal Cookie Mix

I've got some great cookbooks on my shelves, some beautiful, some practical. But in amongst Chez Panisse: Fruits and Cook's Illustrated hides the treasure of my collection: a stained paperback with a plastic brown binder. It's Family Recipes: Sharing Our Roots from a 1990 family reunion at Maplewoods Farms.

It's fun to skim and sample the offerings of my aunts and uncles and cousins, but this book goes beyond fun. It holds meals from my childhood, recipes from my grandmother Martha. She died when I was a baby, but I know her through her food.

(page 55) I picture Dad cracking eggs into fried rice while mom and I mix the sauce for eggrolls: hot mustard powder and water to dab into a teacup of thinned plum jelly.

(pages 70-71) I remember the smell of onions browning for arroz mexicana and mashing the pinto beans for frijoles fritos.

Page after page of memories. And after each one of these storied recipes, her directions and her name.

Martha was a collector and creator of recipes, including this oatmeal cookie mix. In a short-lived entrepreneurial jaunt, my sister-in-law and I used this mix as a base for a successful line of quart-jar cookie mixes. When I was a kid, I would sneak a spoonful of dry mix right out of the container. These memories lead me to suggest that if you have a food processor, or lots of people to help cut in the shortening, try doubling the recipe.

Sift flour, baking soda, sugar, baking powder, and salt together into a large bowl. Cut in shortening until it resembles corn meal (a food processor makes quick work of this step). Add rolled oats. This makes a double batch of cookie mix. Store in an airtight container. I recommend using the mix within 3 months.